Radio License at Risk
- Livable El Cerrito
- Jan 26
- 5 min read
This post was updated to add a statement from WCCUSD Communications Director Raechelle Forrest.
The license to operate radio station KECG at El Cerrito High School will expire on Feb. 27 unless the school district takes action to broadcast for at least one day before then.
The low-power station, once best known for Corey Mason’s worldOne music and more recently for a variety of student DJs and programs, has been licensed since1978. Listeners can tune in to 88.1 or 97.7 FM.
KECG stopped broadcasting last February.
Heather Dixon, an attorney for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said there is a federal law that if a station does not broadcast for 12 consecutive months, its license will terminate.
The purpose is to prevent proliferation of “zombie stations” that do not really have programming, she said.
How License Can Be Saved
Dixon added that the license can still be saved.
“If you can get the station on the air for one day with licensed facilities and actual programming to the public before the 12 months are up, that restarts the clock,” she said. “That would allow a little more time to potentially solve the problem. This is assuming all the equipment is still in place and you could just get on the air for a bit. If they do resume, make sure to file a resumption notice.”
If the deadline is missed, license termination is automatic, Dixon said. The FCC does not have a lot of discretion because the requirement to broadcast at least once every year is a law, not just a regulation.
If the station was on the air, the license would be up for renewal in 2029.
Communications Director Says Station Will Broadcast in February
Raechelle Forrest, West Contra Costa Unified School District Communications Director who is responsible for the radio station, emailed Livable El Cerrito on Monday afternoon (Jan. 26).
“We are excited to bring programming back to KECG and look forward to the community tuning in,” she wrote. “We want to reassure you and the community that the station will return in February. More details will be shared with the community soon.”
Studios in El Cerrito High School
The radio studios are in El Cerrito High School, and there is a record showing El Cerrito High School was the station licensee in 1978. Currently, and for many years now, the licensee has been the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Besides the El Cerrito studios, KECG also broadcasts using a tower in San Pablo.
Nonprofit’s Offer to Help
At the school board meeting on Jan. 21, Media Alliance Executive Director Tracy Rosenberg spoke to the board about the license expiration date and offered help at no charge to save the license. As is routine during public comment, board members did not comment.
Rosenberg said later that her associate, Todd Urick at the nonprofit Common Frequency, has worked with many community radio stations and could work quickly to save the license.
“With a week we could probably get in there and get it on the air to buy you more time,” she said.
Direction from School District Required
FCC Attorney Dixon said what’s needed to move forward is direction from someone in the district to file, because the district is the licensee.
Raechelle Forrest, the district communications director, has been in charge of the radio station at least since Jan. 1, 2025.
Both Forrest and WCCUSD Superintendent Cheryl Cotton have made statements saying they did not intend shut down the radio station. Cotton also said, two months after joining the district, that she would look into the possibility of hiring a new radio teacher.
The previous teacher, Jeanne Marie Acceturo, resigned as of June 30 after an apparent lack of support from Forrest and then-Acting Superintendent Kim Moses. Acceturo returned to work at KQED radio as an on-call announcer and operating technician. She also was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame as an educator.
Silent Station as of Feb. 27, 2025
FCC records show that the station officially went off the air as of Feb. 27, 2025, when a silent station authority was filed.
March Power Outage Blamed
Power went out at El Cerrito High in mid-March and Forrest stated that was the reason the station was off the air. During the outage, she said it was not safe for KECG to broadcast using power from generators. Forrest said the station would not resume broadcasting until all electrical repairs were completed, which happened in October 2025.
However, broadcasting did not resume. Radio classes stopped. A student who had been enrolled in the radio program said no radio teacher was hired and students were switched into a different media academy class.
Superintendent Promised “Regular Broadcasting”
Cotton, who started her new job in June, also assured parents in September about the intention to keep KECG operating.
“I want to reassure you that KECG will indeed return to regular broadcasting,” Cotton wrote. “We remain in communication with the FCC and will resume broadcasting as soon as we transition back to permanent power.”
Larry Nelson, an El Cerrito High School parent, said in September: “I talked to the new principal about planning to bring it back. She said that will happen after power is fixed on Oct. 25. I’m glad to hear that but it doesn’t really make much sense because all the other electrical equipment is running on generators.”
Forrest “Has a Plan”
Forrest did not respond to Livable El Cerrito’s requests for comment about the station in October. She sent an email today which is quoted above, saying the station will resume broadcasting in February.
An El Cerrito High School parent said the PTSA received a letter from Forrest this month.
“Supposedly Raechelle Forrest has a plan that’s going to get the station up and running by the 25th but she has not shared it with anybody else,” the parent said. “We’re now down to a month to get the station operating and save the license.”
FCC “Could Act Quickly”
Dixon said the FCC could act quickly to extend the license if minimum standards are met. “If it’s a rush thing we try to process those quickly.”
Dixon added that renewing the license in 2029 would require more of a commitment from the licensee to be in control of programming, finances, and personnel. If the current license is extended for at least one more year, she said, the community would have time to look at possible solutions.
Does there even really need to be a paid staff person at the helm? I bet some volunteers would kick in and satisfy the FCC's minimal requirements- and the students there are so competent, why not let the students take the lead? Would that be acceptable with the FCC to maintain the license? Are there special qualifications required? ...come on, it's a public radio station.
What will it take to have one broadcast in the next couple of weeks? Maybe the old teacher working at KQED would come back for a cameo performance? I'm sure there are a couple of students who can just go on air and create a program for a day or two. I think it needs to happen way before February 15th because then some documentation will need to be filed.
I took radio with Ms. Acceturo last school year. I don't know what the district's "plan" is, but they haven't been reliable at all so far. Just to reiterate: the station was shut down BEFORE the power outage, because they just stopped paying her. Then, when we were on generators, they repeatedly denied that they could handle a broadcast (despite actual technicians saying otherwise.) I am willing to bet that the radio station will not return to the air anytime soon.
How can we help? My son took the radio class from Ms Acceturo and really enjoyed it. I'm sure many of the students who are trained to run the board would enjoy an opportunity to pitch in to help.